"Evil"
A-C-L-U
"Evil"
Judge's Minister Says Schiavo's Tube Removal is Murder
By MICHAEL FOUST
The pastor of the Florida judge involved in the Terri Schiavo case has spoken out, saying that pulling the disabled woman's feeding tube would be tantamount to murder. "This isn't about letting someone die; this is about causing someone's death. There is a huge difference," William E. Rice, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla., wrote in a column posted on the Florida Baptist Witness website.
Florida Judge George Greer is an inactive member of Calvary Baptist, where Rice has served as pastor for five months. Greer has ordered Schiavo's feeding tube be removed Friday. Rice, though, says removal of the tube would be unethical.
"Like evangelicals across the world, we are horrified at the thought that a handicapped woman could be, in effect, starved to death before a watching world," Rice wrote, noting that some have questioned Calvary Baptist's commitment to pro-life issues. "Like many pastors, I am not an expert in the law. I cannot debate the variances of custody rights, or even debate the medical analysis of a Persistent Vegetative State versus a Minimally Conscious State.
"But I know right from wrong. I know what God thinks about human life. I know there is only one way to describe the prospect of starving a woman to death because she cannot feed herself. It is wrong."
In a recent interview with the St. Petersburg Times newspaper, Greer spoke of his frustration with Calvary Baptist's stance on the Schiavo case. He said he no longer donates to the church.